Re: GTA steering wheels?

[Scott Fisher <sfisher71@domain.elided>]

--- "Watry, Andrew (LNG-MBC)"
<Andrew.Watry@domain.elided> wrote:
> Do (now we have to say) old 105 GTA steering wheels
> ever come up for sale?

Re-Originals' catalog from about three years ago has
them listed.

> If so, what kind of value do they have? 

Fully restored/refurbished, Matt was asking
$1200-$1500 for them, if I recall.  Yes, I blinked
when I saw those prices.

> Anybody got one not in use? 

Yes, well, sort of.  I have the three-hole Hellebore
wheel which is slightly smaller than the GTA wheel
(which had four holes in the spokes, according to
contemporary pictures).  There is at least some
circumstantial evidence to suggest that my wheel is
the size used in the Giulia TZ (it's something like
14" instead of 15", with three holes in each spoke
instead of four), made to accommodate the driver in
the smaller TZ's footwell.  Whether it was ever used
in an actual TZ is anybody's guess.

Mine is not in use because, when I got the Junior, the
wheel creaked badly -- I kept expecting the wheel to
split asunder in my hands every time I parallel
parked.  I put in an inexpensive SportLine wheel
because at the time I was using my Junior as a daily
driver and the new wheel felt much better.  Some time
later, when I saw pictures of "my" wheel in
contemporary press shots of the 105 GTA, I thought
that one day I'd have the wood restored (or at least
made structurally sound) and put it back in the car. 
Now I no longer have that car, and the wheel isn't
"right" for either my Berlina or my Spider, but it's
been too cool to part with.

> Mainly just curious, but it sure would look nice 
> on my Super or Berlina (travesty).

Since I took the wheel off my Junior (before I knew
what it was, or might have been) some six years ago, I
have been saying "someday I want to mount this to a
nice piece of mahogany and make the world's coolest
garage/den clock."  How this works in practice: about
every six to nine months I pick up the steering wheel
from its place in the garage (usually when there's
something behind it that I need to use), turn it over
in my hands a few times, think "yeah, this'd be a
really cool clock," and then put it back.

Part of me thinks I'm never going to get another one
and just HAVING a theoretical TZ steering wheel is
extremely cool, and I should keep it.

Part of me thinks that eventually my kids are going to
go through all my old junk after the funeral and throw
it away ("remember when we were kids and we'd sit on
Dad's rolling toolchest and we'd hold this wheel and
pretend we were driving a race car?"), so I should let
it go to someone who would USE it and ENJOY it NOW.

It's really not quite period correct for your Berlina
(or mine), but it would look just right in your Super.
 It uses a unique hub (because while there are six
Allen bolts that hold it to the hub, they're not
radially symmetrical like other aftermarket wheels'
bolts -- they're at 2 and 3 o'clock, 9 and 10, and
5:30 & 6:30); I still have the hub, which I know works
on a '67 105-series car because I took it from one. 
And actually, it's in about the same cosmetic
condition as your Super's paint, to give you an idea
of what it looks like today. :-)

So... I'm torn.  What does the list think -- keep it
for a someday-oneday trophy/clock, or trade it to
Andrew (for...) who'll stick it in a car and use it?

--Scott Fisher
  Tualatin, Oregon
.
Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com
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